I switched to only using cream or half and half in my coffee a few months ago (I know, no sugar, people! Can you believe it??), but I do love me my coffee.

However, I’m determined to follow through with this challenge, so I’ve cut back to 1 and 3/4 cups per day instead of my usual two cups. I plan to slowly keep cutting back until I’m at 1 cup per day by the end of the month.

I’ve already decided this may not be a habit I decide to stick with. Because coffee is one of life’s little pleasures to me and something I savor every day! 🙂

How are YOU doing on cutting back on caffeine?

P.S. Pictured above was my lunch today. I “Trim Healthy Mama-fied” the Blueberry Crisp from Bread & Wine and it is SO good! I cannot believe how much I love this way of eating… I never thought that sweet-tooth, carb-loving me would survive without sugar and lots of carbs. But I’m not just surviving; I’m thriving — and it’s been five months now, so I think we might be able to officially declare it a lifestyle change??

57 Comments

I understand where you are coming from! Lol. I had committed to replace my coffee habit with tea to be healthier but now I really miss it. I am at the point now where I will probably allow myself some, I really like it with my breakfast.

A few months ago I just no longer wanted 2 cups of coffee a day and cut it down to one and we drink half caff anyway so I don’t get much. I am pretty sure that caffeine makes me tired. I have much more energy on less caffeine. I really enjoy my one cup though. Once it gets cold I may add a cup of herb tea mid morning as a warm up.

Honestly, this isn’t even a challenge I would be interested in doing. I am not a huge caffeine drinker. One coffee and one cola is the norm for me and I really enjoy both beverages. I have eliminated caffeine in the past and I will say that I could really feel a difference when I drank caffeine again. You may feel a very positive change by giving it up. Best of luck.

I used to despise coffee before I tried a good brand. Just a heads up to people switching to decaf. Many brands use the Direct Process, which involves the chemical methyl chloride. Darker roast has less caffeine than light. I stick to one cup. I also buy organic coffee for cheap at Costco so I’m not getting all the pesticides in conventional. Hot green tea is really good too.

Ok I have a question for you about THM and frugality….from the little that I’ve read about THM it says that eating that way is not good for children. So do you cook two different meals most times or just make them something additional that you don’t end up eating? I’m just afraid I can’t afford two different meals at every sitting!

You can do THM with kids. They can mix their fat and carbs so they can eat the same protein and veggies as you, just add a grain (bread, rice, etc.) to their meals when you are eating an S meal. My kiddo and I had oatmeal today, oats made with water and I added blueberries, a little coconut oil and flax seed for both – E meal for me – but she got some maple syrup and cream too. We’ll have tacos tonight but I’ll eat mine as a salad and kiddo will get tortillas for traditional tacos but we’ll have the same meat, cheese, salsa and avocados. I think my kiddo eats pretty healthy because I don’t cook with sugar or re-fined grains and she gets a lot of healthy fat, good quality protein and carbs like oats and spouted bread.

I’ve been doing THM for 7 months now. The way it works for kids is that they need the carbs and fats together. I only make one meal for everyone but they get the whole wheat bread or tortillas while I eat just the filling, or I make brown rice for them to go with the meat and veggies that I’m having. It hasn’t been hard for us at all. And I don’t use any of the expensive ingredients. I can’t handle the sweeteners that are suggested so I use coconut sugar very sparingly in a dessert that I love. Other than that, that’s the only special ingredient.

I have been doing THM for two years and can’t believe the results! I like coffee to but my nursing little one doesn’t. As far as the question on children and THM, their Facebook page has tons of great info.

i did not buy any more soda for myself at the grocery store this past week. i had stopped drinking soda for over a year but when my baby was born i started again because i needed the extra kick so now it’s a couple cups of coffee and a couple sodas every day. i’m working on getting back to just the coffee and only having that in the morning so it doesn’t affect my sleep so much.

Two years ago my husband and I decided to cut out pop. We were both drinking 1-2 cans a day and it was both an addiction and a money waster. Since getting pregnant, coffee and tea have gone, too. I wasn’t addicted to those, but it is difficult to get drinks out without caffeine. I tried switching to decaf, then my stomach couldn’t handle the smell at all, so now I’m drinking water and lemonade 🙂

I just wanted to encourage you in your journey, Jessica. Giving up soda can be really hard, but I know you can do it! Drink lots of water, eat satisfying meals to fill your tummy (lots of protein does the trick for me), and focus on hobbies and people that make you happy. Best wishes!

Thanks, Ladies! I am doing it for several reasons but the #1 reason is to get healthier for me. I have tried before for other reasons but never tried just for me. I am excited to see where this takes me! 🙂

I love coffee and used to drink 3 cups a day (my dr encouraged it!) But then I began having anxiety issues & panic attacks and found the caffeine exacerbated my symptoms. So I had to switch to decaf–my favorite is Jeremiah’s Pick organic water processed. I buy it through amazon subscribe and save. I hope one day I can handle regular coffee again; I would never have given it up if I didn’t have to 🙂

I also love that Jeremiah’s Pick! I used to buy it, but then the price sky rocketed, and it was no longer reasonable for us to buy. I haven’t checked pricing in a while on it–maybe I should again. It is a great swiss water decaf!

I’ve loved and still
Use many of your recipes you have posted over the years, and would love to see recipes of the healthier, gluten and sugar free meals your eating. We have been working on changing our diet for awhile now and I find the difficulty in not having easy, inexpensive go to meals readily available.

I give up caffeine about once a year for a week or two. It is interesting to note how dependent my body becomes even if I only have a cup or two a day normally. I have to cut back slowly to avoid withdrawal symptoms, which include headache, aching legs (from the vasodialation of my veins), and of course, sleepiness. Going from two cups a day to one cup is easy! It is when I finally have zero caffeine that my body takes notice. Right now, I happen yo be cutting back from two cups of double espresso with milk to just one. Maybe I will join your challenge and go completely clean. I will say that after not having coffee for a few weeks, it tastes and feels great to have it again!

I had to give up coffee when I found out I as allergic to it! I was devastated when I discovered this allergy, because, um, coffee! I loved it. But, once I got over the tough part (which was shorter than I thought), I’ve had more energy, less afternoon tiredness, and less irritability. So, I think it’s a win.

But I do miss that nice cup of coffee. I hope to be able to have it in limited amounts again one day!

I ran out of coffee and am trying to see how long I can last without! I do drink black tea. And coffee at church on Sundays. I found that for me, it is more that very hot drinks satisfy me than the coffee itself. Sometimes I just sip bone broth.

I had to give up caffeine due to a health condition. It was one of the hardest things I had to do. There is more caffeine in items then people think. The worst part was having to give up my regular chocolate fix. My family has switched to decaf tea and coffee. Also I learned I could eat white chocolate it has a different chemical make up so it does not have a lot of caffeine. In the winter months when we want Hot Chocolate we use Nestle as it is mostly caffeine free.

Since giving up caffeine I feel so much better. Yes I do still get tired at times and need something to help wake me up so I take a little power nap like 15 minutes at most. That does help a lot.

Are you having a hard time cutting back because you’re tired without it or because you just like it so much? I don’t love coffee but I was this way with chocolate – HAD to have it every day. I was finally able to give it up when I was dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome, and since then I’ve done LOTS of research on caffeine and how it affects your body. I now understand that caffeine affects hormone balancing, especially the adrenals, and getting off the chocolate was imperative if I was going to get my health squared away. It was negating many of the other good things I was trying to do – caffeine dehydrates and depletes magnesium stores so all that water and magnesium supplementation was being counteracted. I don’t know your situation; I just know you’ve been making lots of changes to your health this year, and didn’t want you to end up frustrated like I was!

I’m not a coffee drinker, so cutting that out isn’t an issue. It is hard for me, however, to make it through a night shift without a Dr. Pepper pick-me-up. About a year ago, I made the switch to diet; these last few months I’m trying to drink more water and less diet Dr. Pepper through a shift. So far, so good.

I drink a few cups to decaf coffee a day because I love my coffee but need less caffeine. I try to only have 1 cup of “real” coffee in the morning, but some days I go for a 2nd. I think I’m going to work my way back to only 1. I actually should do 2 half-cafs instead because of the caffeine crash after coffee, but I haven’t gotten there yet.

My husband had high blood pressure issues this summer and had to give up caffeine so I am being supportive and gave it up with him. I sleep so much better and find I have more energy now. It was hard for the first month but now I don’t miss it. The key was finding a good substitute. Tea and every once in awhile a cup of decaffeinated coffee. Yes it decaffeinated tea but I found a great loose leaf tea shop that has some amazing blends.

For the THM experts out there – I’ve read the book twice but cannot wrap my mind on how to do it…I think I get lost in all the wordiness. I want to lose weight and have no health issues but get confused on how to do ‘the plan’. Do you go back and forth between E and S meals and how do fuel pulls and cross overs fit in to the day too? I would love to learn more.

I actually survived my coffee abstinence. And migraine as redraw symptom is not nice.
I was addicted to my morning latte – about 400 ml of it, every morning.

I used baby steps, that took me about 6 months to eliminate caffeine without any redraw symptoms:
1 – I donated my expresso machine and used only a jar coffee machine
2 – I donated my jar coffee and used instant coffee
3 – I replaced the instant coffee with a cereal blend with 20% caffeine
4 – I replaced the cereal blend with coffee of barley (old fashion way: I boiled it, let it rest and then keep it in the fridge until the next batch – a couple of days – I always have some ready for the mornings and it smells delicious)

I had to cut caffeine by doctors orders due to a discovered heart tachycardia. I went cold turkey which was not smart. The headaches were horrible. So I bought decaf and regular and mixed them together. I have to keep regular on hand for family members who like leaded fuel. I don’t have the headaches any more and I am down to 2 cups a day instead of 4 or 5. The doctor also told me chocolate has caffeine too. But lets not get hasty. I’ll work on that one.

I had to give up coffee when I was diagnosed with Meniere’s disease. I would only drink a cup a day and occasionally have a Coca-Cola, which I love. That was about 7 months ago and now I do just fine without the caffeinated coffee. I do drink decaf every morning, 2 cups. I also will on a rare occasion drink about 1/4 cup of Coca-Cola. Oh, YUM! It took a little while and a few headaches to get through it but it is worthwhile. I do have more energy most days and it never takes as long to fall asleep at night.

I have not had coffee this year. I have been drinking something called dandy blend, which is dandelion root, chicory root. It tastes just like coffee, but Is actually an instant tea. It is non gmo and organic.
Get it on amazon, costs about 27.00 per bag, but each bag makes 334 cups

I was getting terrible migraine headaches every day, for a good 15 years. They affected every aspect of my life. At the time, I was drinking 2 cups of coffee a day. Then one day I decided to buy the half caffeine and half decaf canister. Once that canister was empty, I went full decaf. My headaches disappeared completely.

Another benefit to decaffeinated coffee, is that I can have a cup an hour before bed and it won’t keep me awake. I could never do this with full strength coffee.

I used to use sugar in my coffee and cream. I have switched to honey and cream and it was really easy to make the switch.

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